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Advanced Higher History

In Advanced Higher History, we focus on one topic for the full year in detail- USA "A House Divided", 1850-1865. You will have three periods of class contact time, and three periods timetabled for independent work. You will have a three hour SQA exam that includes two essays and three source questions. You also have a project dissertation to complete by April of 4000 words looking in depth on an aspect of the course of your choosing. 

We will look at the Westward expansion of the US and the growing sectional divides within society, we will look at slavery and the abolition movement in the USA.  We will then look at territorial expansion and the issues surrounding this and the 1860 election. This leads us into secession and the outbreak of the Civil War. We will look at key battles in the war, leadership both political and military as well as life at home and abroad. We will focus on the Emancipation Proclamation and its consequences and the election  of 1864. We will end the course looking at reasons for Northern victory and Southern defeat.